Friday, February 29, 2008

What a rollercoaster ride!!

Hawaii time 11:00PM thursday night

But praise GOD after delays that left us all shaking our heads after a while, our heroes finally landed and were reunited with us this morning at about 9am Hawaii time! We were originally told 5:29am but at 4:50am I got a phone call that they were 'circling' and we hightailed it over to the hangar only to find out that they didn't land because of 'poor visibility' and they landed a Hickham Air Force base which is in Honolulu. Robert called me and he was not happy and that is an understatement!! He wanted off that plane in the worst way and the rumors started flying around that in fact they weren't ready for them and no one was in the tower so the pilot continued on to Honolulu so he could land!! 2 1/2 HOURS later they finally refueled the aircraft and after another 'glitch' in the form of the hose for the fuel getting stuck in the plane they FINALLY took off for the short 15 minute flight back to Kaneohe Bay and we were so happy to see that plane land the place went crazy!! I spotted Robert right away when he was walking toward the hangar and I was jumping up and down and so happy to see him and that smile of his just lit up the place. Alex and Jim were so patient and let me have the first hug again, I'm so blessed. Look at Alex and Robert smiling at each other as I'm hugging Robert, so sweet!!I just love to see Alex get to be with his brother again, it makes me so happy and I can't wait until all 3 of my sons can be in the same room together in a couple of weeks when Robert flies home for his post deployment leave time and gets to see Jesse, too.Dad was waiting to be next to get that welcome home hug and Robert's smile just continued to shine and I'm so happy that he seems more relaxed this time after this deployment, we are beyond relieved and blessed that he is home safe and sound along with the rest of the battalion.I want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for getting me through this 2nd deployment and I want you to know that I couldn't have gotten through it without all of the love, prayers and support from everyone. My friends always knew when I needed a prayer or just a kind word of encouragement to get me through to that next phone call or email from Robert. We did it!! Again, thank you so much for everything! Thank you so much to Mike and Marie for taking video/photos for us today. I will share the video when I get home, the file is pretty large and needs to be trimmed and edited before I can post it...so please be patient.

June, my dear friend who I haven't met in person (YET!!), I want you to know that your son is my son and I ran to hug him just as tightly as I did my own...all of these boys deserve equal love and support from everyone who was there to welcome them back. Steve is as handsome and sweet as ever and I know you'll be seeing him really soon and get to spoil him to pieces but for now I will make sure he has a good time with us until he can come home to you. And this is for you. :)Savannah, I wish that you could have been here too, today. Just know that Cailen is one of my own as well and he got a big old hug from me and a handshake and hearty "thank you and welcome home" from Jim.Well it is actually late in Hawaii and I've been up since about 3am so I'm going to hit the hay knowing that my boys are home safe and sound and tomorrow we get to host a family BBQ here at the Lodge and hope lots of Marines come and enjoy the food and have a good time with us.

Oh my God, how great this blog touch my heart and my soul you did a fantastic job I am so proud of you for making this so special to all of us God bless your writing.Bobby is safe It was so nice to hear his voice.God brought them safe from this crazy journey.

What a wonderful way to start out my day! To see your pictures, the smiles and to read about the events. Linda I am THRILLED for all of you!!! WELCOME HOME ROBERT!! My heart is in my throat in a good way. ;)

Linda I am so glad that Robert is home with you and your family. Your postings are just wonderful! When I saw and read this one it brought tears to my eyes to see you finally seeing and getting to hug your son. Enjoy your trip.

GREAT post-and you succeeded to make me sob like a BABY! My favorite is him smiling down at Alex-brother talk-in the eyes/smile.....LOVE IT!

I'm so happy for you--all the waiting and praying--almost over...heck, he's on US soil-it IS over! Woohoo!! And cute shots of the other guys too! (nothing like a MAN in uniform, to make a lady smile!!)

Jessi tells it like it is. I had days and days of these to catch up on all at once and I'm sobbing, too! I loved seeing all of the pictures-even of the other guys I hadn't seen before. I'm so happy for all of them to be home-safe and sound.

God bless our troops and welcome home, boys! You're all heroes; every last one of you.

Big hugs to you, Linda. I'm so happy for your family to all be together again. :)

About Me

I love to scrapbook, spend time with my family, listen to music and attend concerts and baseball games whenever I get the chance. In 2016 I became a Mets season ticket holder and it has really become a passion of mine to see live baseball and visit other ballparks!